Engineering the $325,000 Burger 353
Dr. Mark Post hopes to bring the dream of cultured meat one step closer to reality when he unveils his high tech hamburger in London. The five ounce burger is composed of 20,000 strips of beef muscle tissue grown in a laboratory at a cost of $325,000 (provided by an anonymous donor.) From the article: "The hamburger, assembled from tiny bits of beef muscle tissue grown in a laboratory and to be cooked and eaten at an event in London, perhaps in a few weeks, is meant to show the world — including potential sources of research funds — that so-called in-Vitro meat, or cultured meat, is a reality."
Re:Japanese (Score:3, Informative)
This might be a very cardboard and dry burger - all meat tissues, no fat.
Japanese would prefer something of quality and not just because something is expensive. They have their Kobe beef. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef
Re:I hope (Score:2, Informative)
The ethical ones will likely still have issues.
Ever grow tissue culture cells? I didn't think so.
Your going to be feeding them regularly with a media composed of a number of things. One of those things is going to be horse/bovine serum. Lots of blood components went into it. One of the reasons that the burger is so expensive.
Obligatory (Score:5, Informative)
Linda: "Ugh! That's creepy!... Right?... Oh, I see, we're doing that."
Artificial Beef Taste Tester: "It tastes... familiar..."
Ted: "Beef?"
Taste Tester: "No..."
Linda: "Chicken? We'll take chicken."
Taste Tester: Shakes his head
Ted: "What does it taste like?"
Taste Tester: "Despair?"
Ted: "Is it possible it just needs salt?"
Taste Tester: Shakes his head very slowly
Better Off Ted, Season 1 Episode 2
Re:The dream? Really? (Score:5, Informative)
Eventually there could be several advantages over your "real" burger actually.
1) No need to grind it up. Grow it in the proper shape/texture and cook.
2) You can cook it as rare as you like.
3) Get the exact amount of fat you want so your burger is in fact juicy.
4) High quality cuts might be mass producible.
Re:I hope (Score:5, Informative)